A Thousand Things
by pensandink
Summary: Astrid attempts to name a thousand things she loves about Hiccup. Approximately 100 words each.
1. A Thousand Things

She loved him.

Huge surprise. No, really. Hoffersons barely showed affection. Most of the time, they just swung their axe/sword/mace/hammer/whatever at somebody's neck, _maybe_ – although _just maybe, _because Hoffersons never apologize either – said sorry, and stalked off.

But what Astrid felt was love – for sure – bottom-of-the-heart, butterflies-and-dizziness-when-they're-around, soul-wrenching, gut-twisting, shameless, beautiful love.

Not that Astrid used words like beautiful on a daily basis.

It wasn't just _him,_ though – it was a thousand little tiny things that made Hiccup _Hiccup_. She may not be able to name all of the things that made Hiccup _Hiccup_, but she sure could try to.

Let's see…


	2. Sarcasm

She loved his sarcasm. Actually, his sarcasm was kind of annoying, but the way he reacted to his _own_ sarcasm made listening to thousands of terrible comebacks worthwhile.

His green eyes would light up and he'd get the goofiest smile that made her want to smile back, although she didn't because she was Astrid Hofferson and Hoffersons didn't pay attention to, much less smile at, Hiccup the Useless.

That just wasn't done.

Maybe she couldn't tolerate the actual act of sarcasm. Maybe she didn't always understand the joke.

But she always looked over at him when he cracked a joke, because it was beautiful when he did.


	3. Toothless

She loved his dragon.

It was hard not to. Toothless was _adorable._ He could smile, for Odin's sake! He was like a kitten, except enormous, scaly, and winged. He was super energetic and always jumped around – sometimes knocking over something of Hiccup's in the process (which happened to be the funniest thing _ever_) – and always greeted her with the most adorable smile _ever_ while trying to imitate Hiccup, which made her laugh.

Then Hiccup would attempt to be mad at Toothless, fail miserably, and be adorable while laughing too.

It was sometimes too much adorableness for Astrid to handle.


	4. Button

She loved that button.

Every time she pressed it Hiccup's fin would spring out, then he would get kind of angry. He would smile at the same time, though, so Astrid was never quite sure what to think.

It was really funny, though. She'd, like, punch him, and _boing!_ the fin would spring out. Every time!

Maybe it wasn't funny to Hiccup, but it was _hilarious_ to anybody else.

It was really funny, too, when the twins would be hiding in the trees with a rock. Hiccup would walk underneath them and they'd throw the rock, then _boing!_ It was so hilariously predictable.

It was adorable when he pouted, too.


	5. Flying

She loved the flying.

Maybe riding a dragon was really dangerous, and kind of weird, but Astrid kind of liked it. She could snuggle up to Hiccup under the pretense of being cold. (She was just naturally cuddly.) Plus, Toothless could do some amazing spins.

And it was pretty cool up there, the wind in her hair, the clouds just above her, Toothless purring like the oversized kitten he was.

Hiccup, for all his clumsiness on the ground, was amazing in the sky.

[Shut up, Ruffnut. Not that kind of – ugh, just forget it.]


	6. Valka

She loved his mother.

Valka was _amazing_. She was, without a doubt, the best adult on the island acclimated to the dragons. Astrid appreciated that a _lot,_ because it was hard to get somebody twice your age to accept their lifelong foes into their lifestyle.

It wasn't just that – the relationship between Astrid and Valka was friendly and familial at the same time, further proving Valka's point that Hiccup should – and she quotes – 'settle down and raise a family already – she actually likes the mother-in-law to be!'

(That last part was kind of awkward, but Hiccup blushing – heh.)


	7. Smile

She loved his smile.

That infuriatingly cute smile, turned up one end, had gotten him out of some pretty tight spots when Astrid had her axe at his neck and he just had the nerve to _smile._

It was kind of surprising, really.

Like, if somebody had an axe – super-sharp and exceedingly deadly – would you smile? Probably not. That's part of why she loved him, too – he just was so _confident_ that she wouldn't kill him that he could _smile_.

Actually, he was pretty point-on with that one – there was no way in Hel that she could kill him.

Not with that smile, anyways.


	8. Creativity

She loved his creativity.

Probably one of his more redeeming features (aside from being _very _handsome, if she does say so herself), he came up with new ideas almost every other day.

[Ruffnut! Would you _shut up?!_]

While this, most of the time, resulted in him staying up all night and getting purple bags under his eyes (which made him no less handsome, if she does say so herself), she also loved the fevered energy that he put into his work.

[Ruffnut… Tuffnut! Not you, too!]

He also happened to have a better way of dealing with her friends when they got like this.


	9. Tongue

She loved his tongue.

[Ruffnut, please don't say anything right now.]

He sticks his tongue out sometimes when he's working, especially when he's doing something highly dragonish. For instance, there was that one time he was saddling a Thunderdrum and it nearly blew his head off because he was sticking his tongue out. (Thunderdrums are weird that way.)

There was also that other time when he was drawing Meatlug for Fishlegs and Toothless waddled up, smiled, and stuck his tongue out to the side. It was hilarious.

His tongue does funny things to her.

[Whoops. Great. RUFFNUT!]


	10. Eyes

_Disclaimer - for the past nine chapters and the next 990 chapters I have not owned and will not own HTTYD. _

She loved his eyes.

She'd often find herself laying on her back in the forest, looking up at the leaves on the trees. The color of sunlight hitting the leaves was almost the exact color of his eyes.

She had this one particular spot in a glade covered in moss that was the _exact shade_ of green. She could lie there for hours, thinking about _Hiccup_.

(To this day, Hiccup has been the only person to find her in the glade while she was lying in it. The irony was not lost on her.)

((Oh gods, his eyes.))


End file.
